{"id":61619,"date":"2025-07-13T07:03:10","date_gmt":"2025-07-13T07:03:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/61619\/"},"modified":"2025-07-13T07:03:10","modified_gmt":"2025-07-13T07:03:10","slug":"perrin-beitel-flood-survivor-shares-escape-mission-to-help-others-1-month-after-deadly-disaster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/61619\/","title":{"rendered":"Perrin Beitel flood survivor shares escape, mission to help others 1 month after deadly disaster"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\"><strong>SAN ANTONIO<\/strong> \u2013 One month after flash floods claimed 13 lives in San Antonio, a survivor is sharing his story \u2014 not just of survival but of a personal mission to help others in the aftermath.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Emiliano Tapia was driving through San Antonio early June 12 when heavy torrential rains triggered widespread flooding across the city. Trapped in rising water near Callaghan Road and U.S. Highway 90, Tapia knew his car would not make it. <\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">\u201cI understood the situation immediately \u2014 that my car was probably going to be gone,\u201d Tapia said. \u201cWithin that moment, I had to force my way out \u2026 water started to come in, and I swam out.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">That morning, San Antonio saw record-breaking rainfall. Emergency responders carried out at least 10 high-water rescues, and others, like Tapia, escaped on their own. However, 13 people were killed due to the floods. <\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Among the victims was Derwin Anderson, 43, a military veteran and father who disappeared in floodwaters about 15 minutes before Tapia\u2019s ordeal in the same area.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">After making it to safety, Tapia said he encountered Anderson\u2019s family searching desperately for him.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">\u201cIt was heartbreaking for me,\u201d Tapia said. \u201cAlthough I got out and I made it to safety, I didn\u2019t understand the magnitude of what was happening.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Feeling a deep connection to Anderson\u2019s family, Tapia returned over the next two days to help search for the missing man.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">\u201cMeeting the family the day of \u2014 after I had gotten out \u2014 I felt like I had unfinished business because I had made it out, but someone else had not,\u201d he said. \u201cWe connected during something pretty dramatic, so I feel like we have a very close connection.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">Tapia is still trying to process the emotional toll of the June floods and the recent Hill Country floods over the July 4 holiday, which claimed more than 100 lives.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">\u201cThe one thing I can say for myself: I think therapy is extremely huge,\u201d Tapia said. \u201cGetting the help you need as you process all these devastating situations is important.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\">The city continues to mourn the victims of both disasters as residents and survivors seek healing and answers after unprecedented flooding.<\/p>\n<p class=\"dist__Box-sc-1fnzlkn-0 dist__TextBase-sc-1fnzlkn-3 bYFsJw cuqaEv article-text\"><b>Related KSAT coverage<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Copyright 2025 by KSAT &#8211; All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SAN ANTONIO \u2013 One month after flash floods claimed 13 lives in San Antonio, a survivor is sharing&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":61620,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5133],"tags":[5229,19013,8581,7202,7203,358,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-61619","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-antonio","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-june-floods","10":"tag-perrin-beitel-flood","11":"tag-san-antonio","12":"tag-sanantonio","13":"tag-texas","14":"tag-tx","15":"tag-united-states","16":"tag-united-states-of-america","17":"tag-unitedstates","18":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","19":"tag-us","20":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114844651485710562","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61619","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61619"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61619\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/61620"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61619"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61619"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61619"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}